Christianity Headlines

The Chilean government asked the Vatican on Tuesday for documents related to sex abuse accusations against clergy in Chile, as local prosecutors raided another office of the Roman Catholic Church in Santiago.

Priests harmed more than 1,000 children according to a grand jury report released by the state supreme court
More than 300 “predator priests” were found to have committed sexual abuse in Pennsylvania, harming more than 1,000 children, according to a grand jury report released by the state supreme court on Tuesday.
The near-900-page report is the result of one of the largest US investigations into sexual abuse in the Catholic church. In painful detail, it showcases how for decades one of the...

Decades of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania will come under public scrutiny for the first time on Tuesday with the release of a long-delayed report on a grand jury investigation led by the state's attorney general.

The Chilean government asked the Vatican on Tuesday to hand over documents related to accusations of sex abuse committed by clergy in Chile against minors, as local prosecutors stepped up raids of Roman Catholic Church offices in Santiago.

Evangelical missionary, indicted in Turkey on charges of espionage and links to terror groups, is martyr in eyes of US Christian right
For 23 years Andrew Brunson quietly served the Lord in the ancient city of Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean coast. He built up the congregation of the small Resurrection church to about 25 regulars, taught his children how to scuba dive, organised movie nights and picnics and took pride in coming from a long line of pastors.
Related: Lira crisis: action by Turkey's...

The most senior Roman Catholic cleric convicted of covering up child sex abuse was ordered by an Australian court Tuesday to serve his 1-year sentence in home detention rather than jail. Newcastle Magistrate Robert Stone on Tuesday ordered former Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson to be...

A former Australian archbishop, the most senior Catholic cleric in the world convicted of concealing child sex abuse, avoided jail on Tuesday when he was ordered to serve his one-year sentence at home, according to Australian media.

Georgetown Preparatory School in Bethesda, Maryland, is the alma mater of both Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
The private school costs between $37,000 and $60,000 a year and features a recording studio, a swimming pool and a nine-hole golf course.
Georgetown Prep is one of the most elite boarding schools in the country, with an acceptance rate of just 23%.
Georgetown Preparatory School isn't your average high school.
Located in suburban Bethesda, Maryland,...

A former Australian archbishop, the most senior Catholic cleric in the world convicted of concealing child sex abuse, avoided jail on Tuesday when he was ordered to serve his one-year sentence at home, according to Australian media.

Secular marriages are now the most popular in Scotland, prompting fresh calls for reform in England and Wales
Robyn Hewatt and Andrew Downie were married with all the trappings of a traditional Scottish wedding: Hewatt’s father walked her down the aisle; she had maids of honour and Downie had a best man. A piper played at the door.
But there was no priest, minister or registrar to lead the ceremony. Like thousands of Scots, Hewatt and Downie were legally married by a humanist celebrant. For the...

Pope Francis to visit World Meeting of Families, which says there is no space for Rainbow stall
An organisation representing LGBT Catholics around the world has been denied permission for a stall at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin, which Pope Francis is attending on 25 August.
The Global Network of Rainbow Catholics, which represents 60 organisations, has been told that “logistical considerations” and uncertainty regarding the amount of space available mean that it has not been allocated...

A damning report into allegations of decades of child sexual abuse at the hands of clergy members and efforts to cover it up in six of Pennsylvania's Roman Catholic dioceses is expected to be released in the coming days. The public disclosure of the findings, the result of an almost...

Terry Hamilton writes to tax office and charities watchdog about failures royal commission found in Catholic and other churches
It is unacceptable for churches that failed to protect children from sexual abuse to still have charity status nine months after the royal commission delivered its final report, a former taxation commissioner has said.
Terry Hamilton wrote to the prime minister’s office, the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC)...

Bishop’s body was found with wounds to the head in monastery in Wadi el-Natrun
A Coptic Christian monk has been arrested over the murder of a bishop in Egypt.
Bishop Epiphanius, 68, was the head of Saint Macarius monastery in Wadi el-Natrun, north-west of Cairo. His body was found last month in a corridor of the monastery. He had head injuries, according to the church. Continue reading...

Family of John Smyth, 77, say cause of his death appeared to be sudden heart attack
A British QC who was accused of sadistically beating boys attending Christian holiday camps in the 1970s and 80s has died at his home in Cape Town.
John Smyth, 77, died soon after Hampshire police reportedly requested he return to the UK for questioning. Continue reading...

Egypt's public prosecutor has detained a disgraced monk on charges of killing a bishop at a desert monastery, his lawyer said on Saturday, in a case that has rocked the Coptic community, the Middle East's biggest Christian minority.

Egyptian prosecutors have ordered a recently defrocked monk to be detained for four days pending an investigation into his possible involvement in the death of the abbot of a prominent monastery in the desert northwest of Cairo. Saturday's decision, reported by state-run MENA news agency,...